Justice bursts late to score in $237,000 Bluegrass

LEXINGTON, KY— A heated tempo on the front poised Justice (Chapter Seven) for a late-stretch burst, and the colt prevailed narrowly to win in the second of two harness racing divisions for the $237,000 Greenshoe Bluegrass Stakes on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 1) at The Red Mile.

Temporal Hanover took the top from early leader King Of The North after a :27.3 first quarter and carried his momentum into a :54.2 half. S I P pulled first over around the final turn from third and progressed towards Temporal Hanover as he snagged a breather by three-quarters in 1:23. All the while, trainer-driver Ake Svanstedt sat at the pegs with Justice, and when King Of The North angled outward for the drive Svanstedt shot through the inside. Justice burst through a seam to catch Temporal Hanover by a nose at the finish of a 1:50.2 mile. King Of The North settled for third and El Toro Loco took fourth.

JUSTICE REPLAY

“It was a fast first quarter and a fast first half, so I thought the horses to the outside would be tired before the horses at the inside,” Ake Svanstedt said after the race. “It’s hard to hold the horses inside in the stretch. It’s a long stretch, so almost all the horses drift out. I had luck also. He came home very good and fought [hard]. He wanted to win.”

Justice, paying $9.90 to win, collected his ninth win from 14 starts and added to his bankroll now worth $360,130. He competes for Ake Svanstedt, Little E LLC, Torbjorn Swahn and Myfab Inc.

Periculum (Muscle Hill) put away his competition early to land a front-stepping score in the first division of the Greenshoe.

Brian Sears sent Periculum for the point to a :28.2 first quarter with Ken’s Walner settling for second. Rebuff, the 4-5 favorite, sat fourth through a :56.2 half and made a slow move off the pegs into the final turn. Golden Wall As flushed first over from third moving to three-quarters in 1:23.4, but the tepid early tempo turned the final quarter into a sprint to catch Periculum on the lead. The Marcus Melander trainee coasted home 2-1/4 lengths better than Golden Wall As with Rebuff third and World At War Deo fourth.

PERICULUM REPLAY

“He’s been having a lot of bad luck with bad posts and bad trips. He’s always finished good and just been a good horse all year,” said Mattias Melander, brother to trainer Marcus Melander and Periculum’s regular pilot most of this season, after the race. “I know he raced real good last year [at The Red Mile]. I was just excited to get him down.”

Winning his fourth race from 23 starts, Periculum has now earned $360,739 for owners Holly Lane Stud East, Brixton Medical and Howard Taylor. The son of Muscle Hill paid $4.52 to win.

Each division of the Greenshoe Bluegrass Stakes was sponsored by the Greenshoe Syndicate and Hanover Shoe Farm.

For complete race results, click here.

by Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile